solar power / solar panels

[Mr Moofo]

stuck in this sub section because it is "technology" - sort of!

I hate paying 350 GBP a month for gas / electric - so have found myself becoming solar curious. I am also guessing that I may not see a ROI - as I have maybe 20 years left. But I would like to spite the energy companies.

Does anyone have any good information on solar panels/ installations and the expected costs. Storage is via (very) expensive batteries - and I guess the buy back into the grid is essentially bugger all.

I have a rear roof that faces south and another section that faces south west - so I am guessing orientation should not be a problem.
What are the pitfalls ?

[v8-powered]

We've done a bit of research for our upcoming move....

We are going with an air source heat pump for pool heating (24kw) and then looking at solar PV to hopefully bring down the elec costs a good amount - ASHP is 4k plus installation, solar PV we are looking circa 12k and that may be a conservative estimate. We are looking at harvesting an storing as much as we can, buyback these days isn't very good.

[Mr Moofo]

I would probably be more interested in harvesting and storing - but anything much over 10K may lead me to loose interest.

How many panels / panel area are you looking at for that figure?

[v8-powered]

12 panels - prices vary massively at the moment dependent who you speak to. I think anything under 10k I'd question.......

[Demannu]

My 'mate' installs Pv systems over here and charges €8k for a 5kw domestic system, which includes the invertor and a lifepo4 battery storage system last time I asked. He showed me his charge/draw figures and TBF I'd have had 1 fitted myself if I had a S facing roof and not have to throw a backhander to the Mairie.

[Kneerly Down]

I've bought 8kW of ex-solar farm panels plus a Solar Edge SE3680 HD Wave inverter and optimisers.
Cost for 4kW of panels, inverter and optimisers was £1350.
I like the Solar Edge as, with the optimisers, it provides individual panel reporting so I spot any issues and also means dodgy and/or shaded panels don't impact the other panel outputs. I'm putting c.6kW of panels into it (another advantage of the optimisers is it'll limit output to 3.68kW but I'll get that more of the time IYSWIM) depending on the exact layout I end up with.
The remaining panels will be plumbed into immersion heater element(s) to help with the hot water.

[Asian Boss]

I've overseen a lot as part of much broader measures under the PSDS subsidy.

The details are moot. Our house is on fire and the polluters will pay & the fixers will flourish. Financially, socially and environmentally.

Stand by for the pooled low specification electric Renault Twangos and textured insect protein. You could have bought a Prius two decades ago but you chose not to.

[Mr Moofo]

I've overseen a lot as part of much broader measures under the PSDS subsidy.

The details are moot. Our house is on fire and the polluters will pay & the fixers will flourish. Financially, socially and environmentally.

Stand by for the pooled low specification electric Renault Twangos and textured insect protein. You could have bought a Prius two decades ago but you chose not to.

I have just put that into both Google Translate and Urban Dictionary - and I am still none the wiser!

[Asian Boss]

By you I didn't mean you, if that makes sense. I meant the broader us. I applaud your exploration of options.

[Mussels]

If storage options improve I'd be more interested, there are a few possibilities but I guess anything that stores a lot of energy will be dangerous. I nearly went for solar hot water but even with a big tank it wouldn't store enough energy to make much of a dent on my usage.
I try to think of it all in a holistic way now and single big changes don't seem to offer much over virtue signalling, instead I've opted for a few smaller changes with a bigger overall benefit.

Another reason I'm put off of solar panels is it's silly putting them on a roof with knackered tiles, my roof is 50 years old which is about the life expectancy. If I find soon my tiles are falling to bits then I'd definitely get PV done at the same time but until then I'll wait until prices come down a bit. There's a company up north somewhere offering a new type of panel, not as efficient but a fraction of the cost, if they become more mainstream then I'll have a closer look.

[Desmodromic]

I had a small 3KW system installed just over 2 years ago. The Mrs HATED the idea of solar panels on our roof as she thinks they looked horrible and wanted nothing to do with them. Anyway I got the bloke out to give me a quote and he came up up some black panels that I thought would look OK on our roof.

I live on the North East coast near Amble, the house itself is a bungalow with a roof that faces east/west so not ideal for solar panel installation. I liked the idea of producing and storing the electrickery and also the idea of having a battery backup in the event of powercuts. (Storm Arwen anyone) I saw this as a home improvement (basically I'm a sucker for technology) and am in a lucky position that I was able to give myself an interest free loan from savings to fund it, which I do pay back. In total it cost a lot (I will put the price in later in the post) but I knew eventually it would pay for itself over a decade or so, or maybe even sooner.

We have 12 panels in total, 6 on either side of the roof so they get some sun most of the day. The most electrickery we have produced in one day is just over 24kWh. This month we have produced 338.9kWh.

As I wanted an 'off grid' system I also got a Tesla Powerwall and Gateway2 installed which automatically switches to battery if the grid power goes off. This is the expensive part. There are other battery systems available now, some possibly even better than the Powerwall.

Am I pleased with what I have. Yes is the answer, even the Mrs is a convert now and has even said why don't you get some more panels installed to boost output. Looking back I think I would install a minimum of a 5kWh system just so we produce more in the winter. In January we only produced 70kWh but that is still about 3/5 days free electric.

So I got 12 panels, 3kWh invertor, Powerwall plus Gateway2 and installation. The estimated annual electricity generation is approximately 2718 KWh of electricity per annum according to the installer. Last year we got 2960kWh which is quite close to their estimate.

The cost was really more than I wanted to pay but never mind, and came to a total price of £14000

Yes its a lot of money but it wasn't doing anything in the bank, will save me money and eventually make me some money as we won't be moving unless we win the lottery. I consider it an investment, a home improvement, moreover something I wanted, do a little bit for the environment.

So would I do it again, too fkin right I would, but as they say, bigger and better would be the next one. If we win the lottery and want to move.

[Slenver]

I've been looking into this recently and have rejected it, but our situation is a little unusual in that we have electric heating. This means that our biggest need (by far) is in the winter when PVs will be least effective.

We could spend a lot of money and cover our roof with panels* which would help our daily background costs and do hot water etc, but it certainly wouldn't solve our main problem.

I'm assuming that one day the panels will be several times more effective and storage technology will be such that the huge amount of energy harvested in the summer will be able to be used in the winter, but we're a long way from that currently.


*Well, we probably couldn't anyway, being listed/conservation area etc.

[Mr Moofo]

I've been looking into this recently and have rejected it, but our situation is a little unusual in that we have electric heating. This means that our biggest need (by far) is in the winter when PVs will be least effective.

We could spend a lot of money and cover our roof with panels* which would help our daily background costs and do hot water etc, but it certainly wouldn't solve our main problem.

I'm assuming that one day the panels will be several times more effective and storage technology will be such that the huge amount of energy harvested in the summer will be able to be used in the winter, but we're a long way from that currently.


*Well, we probably couldn't anyway, being listed/conservation area etc.

I guess I am just at the curious stage - we live in a very suburban ( and right on) area - where solar is appearing everywhere as a badge of green credentials .
It's also very sunny - so it could make sense - but I would certainly want to run hot water / electricity off it. But I'm currently on a gas heating boiler ...

[Slenver]

I've been looking into this recently and have rejected it, but our situation is a little unusual in that we have electric heating. This means that our biggest need (by far) is in the winter when PVs will be least effective.

We could spend a lot of money and cover our roof with panels* which would help our daily background costs and do hot water etc, but it certainly wouldn't solve our main problem.

I'm assuming that one day the panels will be several times more effective and storage technology will be such that the huge amount of energy harvested in the summer will be able to be used in the winter, but we're a long way from that currently.


*Well, we probably couldn't anyway, being listed/conservation area etc.

I guess I am just at the curious stage - we live in a very suburban ( and right on) area - where solar is appearing everywhere as a badge of green credentials .
It's also very sunny - so it could make sense - but I would certainly want to run hot water / electricity off it. But I'm currently on a gas heating boiler ...

More likely a better fit for you. I've got a couple of friends that have done it recently and are extremely pleased. Our problem is just that we need too much electricity!

[Mussels]

I've read about a trial recently that involves super heating something (sand iirc) during the summer and heating water with it over the winter, it's on a neighborhood scale and if this ever become feasible for individual houses then it will change things.
Solar PV is inefficient, there's a huge amount of energy from the sun in summer so there should be better ways to harness and store it.

[Zimbo]

I have looked into this as well, I have no gas so electric only and the bills will have increased from £1500/year to well over £3000 by end of the year, even after I have made some savings through actually using less by changing hot water timings, reducing shower pressure etc.
A 4KWh ish system with 6KW battery storage should be around £9,000 - £10,000 installed. I reckon it would pay for itself in around 4 - 5 years, assuming energy costs stay high, only unknown is how efficient the panels will be in winter, however this may be offset a bit in the summer by selling excess power back to the grid (my summer use is around 8KW/day, winter will be double that I reckon). Also looking at upgrading living room windows to triple glazed to minimise heat loss.